


Water Makes Your Shirt Stick

by thechargrey



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cute, Drabble, Fluff, Lifeguard Lance, M/M, Near Death Experiences, lifeguard AU, slight adam/shiro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-24 01:53:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16171190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thechargrey/pseuds/thechargrey
Summary: Keith did not want to go to the pool.Why would he? He didn't know how to swim.But he falls in anyway, after being convinced to go for Shiro's sake.Fortunately that's not the only think Keith is falling for since the cute new lifeguard managed to save his life.





	Water Makes Your Shirt Stick

“Come on! It’ll be fuuun.” Allura pulled Keith by the arm towards the water. 

He pulled away from her, nervous. He knew the real reason she’d wanted to do this outing was so that she could show some guy to Shiro. 

The original conversation had been pretty one sided. Allura had shown up to his and Shiro’s house with shopping bags and an innocent look in her eyes. 

She’d interrupted Keith and Pidge playing video games on the couch with words so fast and excited he almost didn’t catch them.

“My friend Romelle told me that she has a brother who has this friend who is an incredibly charming tall dark and handsome gay man named Adam and that Adam is available saw a picture of Shiro and said, and I quote, ‘he’s cute,’ and that they’re all going to be swimming at the Garrison Country Club Pool today.” 

Keith had been forced to blink the bewilderment out of his eyes before he could even think to say anything back to her. Pidge just stared at Allura in confusion.

“So?” Keith asked, then it hit him. “Wait, Pidge, isn’t that where your brother works?”

“Yeah it is,” she nodded, “but he works for the tennis courts.”

“Soooo…” Allura said bringing the conversation back to herself, frowning and rolling her eyes like it was completely obvious. “Shiro also needs to be at the Garrison Country Club Pool today.” 

“Oh.” He nodded at Allura, but she was still looking at him expectantly. “So what does this have to do with me?”

Allura frowned even deeper, letting out a huffy sigh, as though Keith was the biggest disappointment she’d ever had to deal with in the matchmaking world. “Well obviously Shiro’s not going to come with me to the pool if it means leaving you by yourself all day. You have to come too.”

“Oh.” Keith thought about it for a second before giving his answer. “No.”

“Keith!”

“I don’t want to go to the pool today.”

“Don’t you care about your brother’s happiness?!” She’d demanded of him.

“Allura, I can’t swim. I’m not going to a pool. You’re going to have to think of some other way to play matchmaker to my brother.”

“Keith! The pool is shallow. As long as you don’t go near the diving board you’ll be fine. Besides, that’s what lifeguards are there for.”

“No.” 

“Pleeeaase!”

“Nope.”

“I’ll go with. It sounds like it could be fun.” Pidge said, adding to Keith’s frustration.

Keith whipped his head around to look at her, noting the innocent smile on her face. She was up to something, that much was for sure. She wasn’t one to forgo playing on her computer and gadgets for some fun in the sun.

“See?! Even Pidge wants to join in. All you have to do is say yes.”

“No!” Keith cried.

She pulled at Keith’s jacket. “Listen, if your brother gets a boyfriend that means he’ll be forced to give you a little more space, he won’t be able to be such a helicopter, you’ll be able to maybe sneak off to that Conspiracy and Sci-Fi Conference Shiro doesn’t want you to go to…”

Allura preceeded to pull out a couple tickets to that exact conference out of her bag. She looked away innocently and began fanning herself with them. 

“Are those..”

“Speed passes? Why yes they are…”

How she’d managed to get speed pass tickets with the conference only a couple weeks away Keith would never know. Then again, she was so rich it probably was simple for her.

“You don’t fight fair.”

“Never said I did.” She smiled. “So you’ll go, then?”

Keith considered before speaking.

“I don’t think I can.” Keith eyed the tickets hungrily. Pidge looked at him with doe eyes, begging him to reconsider. He really did want to go to that conference, and would have done just about anything. But it wasn’t just his inability to swim that was holding him back. “I don’t have a swimsuit or anything.”

“Problem solved.” Allura reached into the shopping bags and pulled out a pair of trunks before tossing them at his face. “I hope you like red. I’m going to go tell Shiro the news.”

Before Keith could argue with either of them Allura was already telling his brother and Pidge was out the door. “I’m gonna go change and be right back.”

And so, Keith went to the pool. He was already regretting it. 

His skin was too pale to sit on the deck and tan. Besides red would definitely not suit him if he were covered in it from head to toe. He wasn’t used to being so naked in public. How did normal people wear swimsuits and not feel completely exposed? 

“Are you sure you wanted to spend your Saturday here?” Shiro asked him from behind.

“Yep, this’ll be fun.” He tried to make the lie sound real, but wasn’t sure he had succeeded. Even so Shiro dropped it, shrugging.

Keith looked at Allura who was busy talking to her friend. A couple of guys stood near them also talking. Keith could tell immediately which one was supposed to be Adam.

Allura had been right. He  _ was  _ cute. With his tan skin and tall stature he’d look great standing next to Shiro.

Keith hoped it worked out. Not just to get Shiro off his back a little, but Shiro deserved some sort of happiness. He hadn’t gone on a single date since their parents had died in a car accident six years ago. Keith had been 12, and Shiro had stepped into the role as his guardian even though he’d only been 19 at the time and had lost his right arm.

Keith figured it would be best if he hung out with Pidge so that Shiro was left on his own for a while.

“So,” he asked her, “why are we here?”

“What ever do you mean?” Pidge blinked her eyes innocently again.

“Cut the act.”

“Okay, okay.” Pidge said, “there might be another reason.”

She didn’t say anything else, just slid herself into the pool where the water was just above waist deep.

“Wait! Pidge!?” If he wanted answers he was gonna have no choice but to follow her.

He stuck his foot in, hissed, and pulled it back out. It was cold compared to the warmth of the day. 

Pidge just cackled at him and bounced further away, holding her arms up until she got used to the water temperature.

Frustrated, Keith decided it was best to just rip the bandaid off. He pulled himself up to the edge, sitting, and then plunged his legs in.

“Aggh!” Keith yelled at her, bouncing himself. After a few seconds the water temperature started feeling nice against his skin. He ‘ran’ as best he could through the water before grabbing Pidge and shoving her under.

As soon as he let her back up she wagged a finger at him and screeched. “You!”

“Tell me why we’re here and I won’t do it again.”

“Fine, fine!” She gestured over her shoulder. 

Behind her Keith could see the deep side of the pool. There were at least twenty other people enjoying the warm weather and a couple of people even daring to use the diving board.

“What am I looking at?”

“The stand you fool.” She said it like it was somehow supposed to be obvious to him.

Keith glanced back at the far side of the pool. The white stand was raised up above the pool, with a big red and yellow umbrella over it. In the shadow of the umbrella he could see the guard, sitting relaxed with one of his ankles crossed on top of his other knee. He was tan, with brown hair and big blue eyes. He had a long face and a sharp nose. Even from this distance Keith could tell he was skinny, but still muscular. Keith felt himself intake a breath of air. The guy was cute. Really cute.

He was talking to some bigger guy who also had a lifeguard t-shirt on and was standing next to the stand. The way the first lifeguard leaned over, listening to him intently and laughing at his jokes, while still keeping his eyes on the pool, told Keith they were probably friends or  _ something _ .

“So you’ve finally noticed.”

Keith nodded. “But, why--”

“I’ll be honest, without my glasses he just looks like a blur to me, but I’ve been promised by my brother that he’s hot.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that my brother told me that they’d just hired this new guard, who just recently moved to town, is cute, apparently flirts with  _ everyone,  _ and likes space.”

Keith looked at Pidge, frowning. “So what? You also want to set him up with my brother?”

“No, I want to set him up with you.”

Keith choked on his own spit and started coughing. “Wha--but--”

“I know, I know, you can thank me later for dragging you here.”

“No! Pidge! Why would you--”

“Because I can’t be your only friend. It’s time you flew the coop a bit.”

“But I have lots of friends.”

Pidge just looked at him, blinking her eyes, with her eyebrows raised.

“I do! I have...uh...Shiro.”

“Shiro doesn’t count, he’s your brother.”

“And Allura?”

“She doesn’t count either. She’s your brother’s friend.”

“Matt?”

“My brother also doesn’t count.” Pidge frowned at him.

“But..but--”

“I want you to go talk to him. Matt’s checked him out, he’s a good guy, in your year in school and probably doesn’t have a lot of friends yet.”

“But what do I say--”

“Go ask him if he wants a soda from the vending machine. He’s had a long day of work and could use some refreshment. Easy!”

“But what else--”

“Talk about school or something, man, I don’t know! I didn’t think I’d be able to introduce you until after school started. I never thought I’d get you to come to a pool.”

“But--”

“Soda! Now!” Pidge demanded, pushing him back out of the water.

Keith climbed up the side, slipping a bit before catching his knee, hoping the lifeguard didn’t notice how ungraceful that was.

He grabbed his towel to wipe off some excess water on his trunks and his hair before looping it behind his neck, trying to look casual and cool as he began to walk toward the lifeguard stand. He just ended up feeling like an idiot.

He was so distracted that he didn’t notice the kid running right towards him until it was too late. The kid was small, probably around twelve years old, so normally wouldn’t have been an issue to avoid him, but due to the slippery deck and that Keith was right on the edge of the pool, all it took was one twelve year old kid to make him slip off the edge and right into twelve feet of water. 

At first Keith was too stunned to do anything, and he just started sinking in the water, unmoving. Then the panic set in. Keith moved, struggling to flap his arms, unsure of how to get up to the surface, unsure of which way the surface even was. He tried to take a breath to relieve the panic, realizing too late his own mistake.

He struggled harder. The water seemed to press around him. It felt like something was grabbing him and pulling him even deeper. He struggled against it. Using his fists he punched at the water, connecting with something.

In another second he was out, the water around him replaced with blackness.

 

~*~*~*~*~

 

Keith felt pressure on his lips. It was gentle and warm. Someone was touching his face and speaking to him. He felt something rising in his throat. Embarrassment? 

No. 

It was a whole bunch of water. 

He coughed it out, leaning to his side. The sensation burnt his throat. Keith’s breaths came in raspy and labored.

“Oh, thank god.” The voice came from above him. Clapping started ringing out around him. Keith looked up.

From this angle the sun lit a halo around the guys head. His jaw was bleeding from a small cut, with a bruise starting to appear on his cheek, somehow making him look even more attractive. His shirt was wet and sticking to him. Keith could clearly see the definition in his chest and arms now. His muscles weren’t bulky, but they were definitely there.  _ Oh god, _ Keith thought, looking up at the lifeguard,  _ he’s even cuter up close. _

Keith moved to sit up so he could move further away. It was awkward being so close to someone he didn’t know at all.

“Woah, woah, woah.” The guard said, pushing Keith’s chest back down. “You’re not moving until the EMT’s get here and have a look at you.”

“But I--” He tried to sit up again, but the guard kept his hand on Keith’s chest, firmly holding him in place.

“If you try to sit up one more time I swear to god I will strap you to rescue board, and that’s a little kinky for our first date, don’t you think?” He winked at Keith.

“Our...first..?”

“Well, yeah. I mean we did already make out.” He chuckled, joking. “You act quick. I already made it to first base and we haven’t even exchanged names.”

Keith stared blankly at him. Behind the guard he could see Pidge cracking up without shame and Allura trying hard not to laugh.

“Oh...hey…the name’s Lance.” He sighed, looking away. Keith thought he looked every bit like a sculpture. His next words were quieter, meant only for Keith. “Sorry if I’m making you uncomfortable, most people are embarrassed after they have to get rescued. I’m just trying to lighten the mood a little so you don’t feel weird.”

He cocked a smile, raising his eyebrows and wiggling them.

“Oh...uh...thanks? I wouldn’t...” Keith said, confused. Lance had completely misunderstood Keith’s blank look. Although now that Keith was thinking about it, he was acutely aware of at least twenty sets of eyes staring at him. “Oh god…”

He was wet and wearing nothing but swim trunks. He had a cute boy sitting close and touching him, and had just been given mouth to mouth by the same boy. He had made a complete fool of himself his first time in a pool and to top it all off two dozen strangers had witnessed everything. 

Keith wished he could go back in time two minutes and accept death.

“Kill me now.” 

“Hey!” Lance said, staring straight into Keith’s eyes. “I’ll have you know that I worked really,  _ really, _ hard to save your life, so if you want to die you’re just going to have to wait until after you get home.”

“I’m such an idiot.” Keith groaned and felt himself turning red.

“Hey, now.” Once again Lance spoke much gentler, tilting his head ever so slightly so that his wet hair shifted across his forehead. “Honestly man, you just need a couple swim lessons and you’d be fine in the water. You should actually do some as soon as you can, or you might end up with a permanent fear or something.”

“What if I want a permanent fear of the water?”

“That’s the spirit!” Lance smacked Keith gently on the shoulder. He kept bouncing between being bubbly and ridiculous and being more serious and caring. Keith was going to get whiplash just being around this boy.

“What happened to your face?” Keith asked, realizing too late how rude the question sounded. He’d just wanted to change the subject and he actually was curious.

Lance looked at him, strangely. “You did.”

“I...did...when I…” Keith remembered his fist connecting with something pulling him down in the water.

Lance nodded.

Keith reached up a hand to touch the bruise that was getting darker on Lance’s cheek, without realizing what he was doing. He pulled his hand away just in time not to make an even bigger fool of himself. “Sorry about that.”

“I mean, obviously I’d have preferred it if you punched me literally anywhere else...or ya know didn’t punch me at all...but I guess people will just assume I’m a bad boy or something. You have a mean right hook, by the way, not everyone can punch through water and still leave a mark.”

“Thanks...I guess.”

“What’s your name? You never told me.”

“It’s Keith.”

“Ah, cute name.” Lance winked at him. Keith was pretty sure he would have said that regardless of what Keith had said his name was. Even so, Keith blushed despite himself.

“So...I have to wait here for how long?” Keith’s voice came out higher than he had intended it to.

“Just until the EMT’s get here, they should be soon. I know it’s a pain.” Lance began drumming his fingers on his knees. “So...where do you go to school? Or have you already graduated?”

“No, I’m graduating this year, going to the Garrison Academy High School.”

Lance cracked a smile at that. He spoke his next words quickly. “Me too! I just moved here. My parents didn’t want us to move out of Cuba for my Senior year, but everyone in the family wanted to be here for my sister Veronica, and I figured I’d be able to make friends pretty quick...so…” He shrugged. “Here I am. And look, I’ve already got one.”

“A...friend?”

“Yeah, unless you don’t want to be.” He frowned. “I know now you look at me you’ll probably have embarrassing memories...” He trailed off.

“No!”

“Okay, then. I won’t tell anyone about this, so don’t worry about that.” Lance frowned, looking away.

“No,” Keith tried again, “I mean...I’d like that. I want to be friends with you.”

Lance’s face opened wide in a smile again. “Perfect! School starts in three weeks right?”

“Yeah! Maybe we’ll share some classes.”

They smiled at each other. Lance’s smile was brighter than the sun shining behind him. It made Keith’s knees feel weak. If he wasn’t already lying down he would have fallen in the pool again. 

Yeah, it was probably a good idea that Lance wouldn’t let him stand back up. He didn’t need to embarass himself any further in front of this boy.

“What classes are you taking?” Keith asked. He hated small talk, but he genuinely wanted to know every word of what Lance had to say.

“Oh, uhhh...” Lance said, wracking his brain. “The standard English and History. And then Astronomy, Theater, and Spanish as my extracurriculars, and--”

“Spanish?” Keith asked. Lance had said he was from Cuba, unless Keith had been mistaken.

“I...uh...wanted an easy A. You don’t think they’ll notice, do you?” Lance laughed, running his fingers through his hair.

“I think you’re gonna end up kicked out of class in the first week.”

“No! I’ll make it at least to the third.”

“Wanna bet?” Keith’s grin turned mischievous.

“Something tells me betting against you is a bad idea. But hell yeah, I’ll take it.” Lance smiled back.

“So what other classes?”

He paused, thinking. “Oh, uh, Physics...and Calc.” Lance’s face turned into a grimace at the last word.

Keith laughed at the expression. “I get pretty good grades in math thanks to my friend Pidge. Maybe she can help you too.”

“I’d like that. That’s the class I was more concerned about getting kicked out of in the first week.”

They both laughed. Keith was getting along with Lance better than he got along with almost anyone. He wanted to make sure they’d stay in contact, and wondered if it would be too forward to ask for his number.

Just as soon as he’d made up his mind and was about to open his mouth, Lance interrupted him.

“Oh! The EMT’s are here. You’ll be freed to go in just a couple minutes.”

Lance leapt up from where he had been kneeling and went to meet with them. They said a lot of big words and asked Keith a few questions before checking his pulse and head. 

“Are you dizzy?”

“No.”

“Did you hit your head?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

It continued for a minute. Keith kept trying to look past the EMT’s at Lance, but he was back to work, organizing the people on the deck so that they were out of the way.

After another minute of questions and some checking of vital signs Keith was freed to go. Shiro helped him stand up, and before he could go and find Lance again, he was steered toward the exit.

“I think it’s probably time we all head home.” Shiro said, looking at Keith with concern. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s leave.” Keith said, feeling defeated. He didn’t have a good excuse to stick around any longer. He could go up to Lance...but he wasn’t sure what he could say. He’d definitely keep an eye out for Lance at school, but that was three weeks away.

Pidge and Allura followed with their swim bags.

They made it out to the car, chatting happily. Keith was quiet, though, his thoughts were occupied. He still wondered if he should run back inside and ask Lance for a phone number, or if that would be inappropriate. Lance was working after all.

“Hey, wait up!” Lance was running after them. Keith’s heart skipped a beat. Lance paused in front of them, panting slightly and holding his knees. He held up something wet in his hand. ”You left your towel!”

“Oh.” Keith said, taking it from him, heart sinking rapidly. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” Lance cocked his head slightly looking confused at how gruff Keith had sounded.

“So...thanks for bringing my towel back. I’ll just be going now…” Keith turned around awkwardly. God he needed to learn how to talk to guys. 

“Wait, Keith.” Keith spun himself around to face Lance again, trying not to let his heart leap for joy too much. Lance was standing with his hand running gently through his hair. “So I just thought, that maybe if you wanted to...uh...take some swimming lessons, I could probably help you out with that.”

“Oh...uh…” Keith was a bit confused. It sounded like Lance wanted to say something else, but wasn’t able to for some reason. “That would probably be good. Are you really willing to risk getting punched in the face again, though?”

Lance cracked a smile. “Well the bruise will fade before school starts and I’d really like everyone to assume I get into fights and am way cooler than I actually am, so the way I see it you’d be doing me a favor.”

Keith snorted. 

“Anyway, you know...I just moved and don’t know anyone who wants to learn, so maybe even if you don’t want to you can pass my info around.” Lance’s voice had gone up an octave and was sounding slightly squeaky.

“Yeah, okay.”

Lance offered him a card. It was a card for the Garrison pool, with the phone number in bold letters and Lance’s name just below with the title ‘Lifeguard and Swim Instructor’ just below that.

“Oh...uh...I wrote my personal phone number on the back, so you can call me directly...if you want. Please don’t pass that around though.”

Keith turned the card over in his hands. Sure enough a phone number was written in neat handwriting, although it was slightly smudged.

“Oh!” Keith said, surprised. He wasn’t sure what to say to that. He looked up at Lance’s face and could have sworn that Lance winked at him. It was too fast to be sure though.

“So call me sometime...or...don’t and we’ll just see each other once school starts back up. Gotta go! Back to work!” Without another word or so much as a glance backward, Lance took off back toward the pool.

Keith smiled slightly at his retreating form. He watched until Lance had pulled the door open and disappeared beyond the gate. He could tell already that he was falling for this guy. His stomach was doing somersaults just at the thought of calling him.

“So are you just gonna stand there with a stupid grin on your face or are we going back home?” Pidge elbowed Keith in the ribs, causing him spin around and put her into a headlock. “Ow!”

“Yeah, we’re going.”

Pidge whacked him on the arm to get him to lower his hands. 

“Don’t be a brat.” Keith said as he set her free. 

They all piled into the car. Allura was chatting happily about Adam to Shiro as Pidge and Keith climbed into the back. Keith took another look at the retreating pool as they pulled away.

He was smiling despite himself again.

**Author's Note:**

> Ahh, this was fun to write. I originally intended to make it longer, but I just couldn't think of much of a plot, so I made it a short oneshot instead.
> 
> I like writing lighthearted character banter where nothing much happens! Again, this was so much fun!
> 
> You can check out my other finished Voltron stories if you'd like I have a 60k slowburn for Klance and a 7k oneshot for Adashi.
> 
> If you like my stuff you can also follow me on my tumblr. Same name!
> 
> http://seeminglycaptivating.tumblr.com/
> 
> I occasionally post klance and other fandomy type stuff, but mostly it’s just me being weird. If that interests you then be my guest and follow me!
> 
> Elsewise you can follow my insta @thechargrey
> 
> Same name on twitter, but I don’t really tweet much!
> 
> Keep being awesome my lovelies! BYEE! Until next time!!


End file.
